Pain Sent With Love
by Aria Meyer
Summary: When Hermione Granger meets her potions master at Grimmauld Place, and again at the Burrow - something in her feelings changes. The next school year on Hogwarts is definitely going to be more interesting than others.
1. Miss Hermione Granger's coming clear

_**Pain sent with love**_

**by**: _arialovesyouall_

**a little word to all of you**:

_While writing this story, I kind of had some problems at home. So, probably you'll notice the switching in my emotions in my writing. At first you recognize a very happy mood – followed by an extreme killing mood, for example xD Thank you for your understanding. And this is my first fanfic, by the way. Hope you like it. Oh, and English is not my first language, little applause for me now. I love you all!_

_-__**arialovesyouall**_

1/…

_Miss Hermione Granger's coming clear with her mind_

_Hermione,_

_I wish we could meet, or at least talk a bit about unimportant things - but as you know, we have to be careful. Voldemort could get to see our letters, and if there would be a date in them he'd know we would meet and he'd probably come to kill me. I hope we see each other soon. Ron greets you._

_Love,_

_Harry_

It was July, nearly August, and Hermione was quietly sitting on the soft cotton of the coverlying on her bed in her purple bedroom at home in the peaceful bit of Muggle-London. After a month of summer holiday she was pretty bored already. Hermione and her Muggle-parents had been on a fun trip to Europe for two weeks the first of the summer months, but since then, she'd been home. She had already read all the books she owned again. She even started 'Hogwarts: A history' - a present from one of her best friends Ron. But now, she was really, honestly bored. She couldn't write letters - or at least letters just to talk a little about unimportant stuff - to Harry or Ron because there was a big chance that Lord Voldemort would find out and go after one of them - and, eventually, kill them. And she didn't have an owl to send letters either if none of her friends owl'd her. She knew that Ron and Harry were together at Grimmauld Place together with the members of the Order of the Phoenix. They were safe, together, and probably having the best time of their lives. But she was here in London, with her parents, and alone. She wished she could go to that dirty, old house at Grimmauld Place. And the wish she made was fulfilled sooner than she had expected.

After another three long days of laziness, and doing nothing, Hermione finally received an owl from Headmaster Dumbledore. He charmed the ribbon round it so no one except Hermione could open it - some very hard kind of magic only he could do – even though it didn't seem like that. The parchment was very thick and yellow - as usual. It reminded her of the warm, welcoming Hogwarts. The letter wasn't very long, and went like this:

_Mrs. Granger,_

_I am pleased to tell you that soon some members of the Order will come to your house and take you back with them. I can't tell which day exactly, because we're having some problems here. I can tell that it will be one of the next three days. It could be Thursday, but also tomorrow, so I recommend you to pack your things and your trunk to go to Hogwarts already. You probably won't return home this holiday. Harry and Ron told me to include in this letter that they're very sorry that they didn't write that much, and that you already knew the reason - but that you're probably sick of hearing it. Harry says he knows the feeling._

_I hope to see you soon,_

_Headmaster Dumbledore_

When she had finished reading the short letter, Hermione was so excited that she hopped of her bed on the soft rug and ran down the wooden stairs, which were clothed with a white carpet, to tell her parents. But she reconsidered that, since her parents had barely seen her the past year, and they probably wouldn't like the fact that she was returning to her friends now already, after a month of being home together with them. She slowly went back upstairs on her socks to her room to pack her things to leave. While searching for her quill, Hermione saw the present she had gotten for her sixteenth birthday. It was a thin nightdress to wear in summer, made of silk, with lace on the borders. It was gorgeous, but she didn't know wherefore she'd need it on Hogwarts. It looked a bit too sexy to wander around with in the common room. She thought of her parents, of how much she loved them. And considering that the gift she got would remind her of her parents when she was away, she put it in her trunk. She felt the soft silk between her long, slender fingers, and smiled softly. She was thinking of Ron. She had been madly in love with him since a year ago or something like that. But unfortunately, Ron was in love with someone else. Lavender Brown, a girl from Hogwarts, also sorted in Gryffindor. Hermione did definitely not like her! You were sorted in Gryffindor for bravery, and she was definitely not brave! But the sorting hat was never wrong – perhaps she'd do something in her life once… The wonderful thought that_ she_ was going to be with Ron for a whole month this summer, _without_ Lavender, cheered her up a bit. Perhaps the nightdress would get a function during her visit at Grimmauld Place together with her best friends and of course, the Weasleys...

After searching and packing her stuff together, her bedroom looked clean. Too clean. It really looked like she was going to leave home. And that suddenly reminded her of it - she still had to inform her parents that she was leaving... She'd better do that as soon as possible. Imagine Dumbledore knocking on the door all of sudden, with that friendly smile on his face, asking her parents if she was ready to go with them! She slid down the stairs; she had always loved doing that when she was a child – a child not knowing about Hogwarts. When she came into the big, light living room it smelled like home. A bit of freesia, her mother's perfume, and also tobacco, the smell caused by her father's cigarettes. She'd always hated the fact that he smoked. It made his teeth yellow, and he was a bloody dentist! There was also something else that she smelled... A good smell! Her mother was cooking… Hmm… Then she suddenly recognized it - her mother was making turkey according to the family-recipe. She would miss her mother's cookery, but instead, she'd have her friends. And of course, she'd have Ron. And at Hogwarts the food prepared by house elves was delicious too! She slowly began to speak...

"Mum?" she asked silently.

"Yes, love? Supper's almost ready if you came to ask." her mother replied smiling.

"I actually wanted to ask something..." Hermione began quiet.

"Go ahead!" her mother kept smiling, "Don't tell me you got shy from being in your room all the time!"

"You won't like it..." she continued.

Her mother stopped stirring in the pots on the fire. She turned around and looked at her.

"What is it, dear?" she asked.

"Oh well, nothing special, just-" Hermione laughed.

Then she remembered. "Do it fast," she thought.

"Headmaster Dumbledore sent me a letter by owl today. He said that soon some memb-… that soon some of my friends will come to get me to go to Grim- Ron's house… There are a few more people. Like Tonks and professor Lupin from my third year and..." she spoke fast and she almost drowned in her own words.

She laughed nervously again. The silence may have taken 2 seconds, but it was too long for her. She thought her parents would forbid her to go to Grimmauld Place! Or perhaps even to Hogwarts! Perhaps they were sick of magic… And she didn't think she'd survive another month without her friends. Without the Weasleys. Without _Ron_.

"Oh, that's great, honey! Then you can see all your friends again there! They will probably be staying there too won't they? Like Harry?" her mother's voice clattered happily.

Hermione had the strongest feeling that wasn't the only reason why her mother was so happy about the fact that she was leaving early.

"And your father and I were planning to go to Europe again – to France this time - when you went back to Hogwarts - now we can go earlier! You can tell Rumbledoor-"

"_Dumbledore_," Hermione corrected. Her mother would never mistake. She must've been really happy.

"That Dumbledore can come get you any time." She smiled at her daughter.

Hermione went back upstairs to her room. At first, she was quite sad. Her parents wanted her to leave early? But then she thought about her friends she'd see, all the Weasleys! Her best ginger friend Ginny, and the fun she'd have with the twins who'd be pulling pranks all the time. Her sadness went as soon as it came. She was going to Grimmauld Place! She felt like there was a balloon growing bigger and bigger inside of her. She wanted to shout that she was finally going again, as happy as she was!

And as Dumbledore said, they'd probably come on a very unexpected moment. The next day, when Hermione and her parents were in the kitchen, sitting at the table eating lunch, suddenly the doorbell rang. They all seemed kind of surprised, even Hermione, yet she got up as soon as she heard the first sound of it ringing.

"I'll go!" Hermione yelled – yelled, because she was already in the hallway before her father could even stand up, or realize what had happened.

She opened the front door and nearly began to cry. Her tears would've been out of happiness of course - because there were they standing! Finally! After one long month of waiting Hermione saw her friends. She jumped on Harry and hugged him.

"Harry! I've missed you so much!" she murmured in his neck.

"I've missed you too, Hermione! I'm so glad that I see you again! It has been a long month... Here," he said as he handed her over something heavy, square shaped with wrapping paper around it, "it's a gift. For your sixteenth birthday."

"I have a present for your birthday too, Harry! I'll give it to you later." She said, but as Harry spoke these words, her thoughts went immediately to the nightdress she already got for her birthday. And directly after that, to Ron.

As she thought about him, she suddenly let Harry go and looked behind him to search for her friend. And yes, there he was, her other ginger friend! She ran up to him and jumped on his waist so suddenly, that they almost attacked the floor caused by Ron's astonishment, as she did with Harry - and she hugged him tightly.

"Ron!" she yelled happily.

It felt so good! She hugged him tighter than she had ever hugged Harry before and forgot about all the other people standing out there. She quickly released Ron and greeted the rest of her friends standing outside her house.

"Hi Tonks!" she said while they were looking quite amused," Hi Remus! And hi Fred and George! Ginny!"

She gave a kiss on the cheek to all of them and when she was finally finished she invited them to come in. At first, they didn't want to, because Mr. Weasley had commanded them to return soon, but eventually they gave in.

"Ah, who cares," Fred said.

She got some other magical gifts and cards for her birthday from them and went upstairs to put them in her trunk also. When she came downstairs with her bags she saw Fred and George staring at the coffeemaker while it was making coffee.

"Fascinating! I don't know how Muggles live without magic!" George said amazed.

"Muggles are geniuses! Where do they get the ideas?" Fred asked surprised.

After a while of talking, Fred and George wandering around looking for ideas for their pranks and her parents meeting their daughter's friends, meeting _Ron_, Lupin said they should be heading back. With a bit of pity everyone said goodbye to Hermione's parents and Hermione herself followed her friends outside. She hadn't even thought about the way they got here this afternoon - and how they were supposed to get back. As Tonks snapped her fingers, a few broomsticks appeared. Hermione was terrified all of sudden. She smirked nervously.

"B-but Tonks! I really suck at flying with a broom!" she began. And without, she thought.

"No problem, dear. You go with Harry!"

"Oh, okay," she said kind of disappointed.

She'd hoped to be on a broom with Ron, so she'd have to grab him tight for a long journey. Without any excuse needed. But since Ron wasn't that good at flying either, that probably was a bad idea. As she climbed on the slipperybroomstick, behind Harry, the sky got darker and the clouds got closer together. Hermione thought it was going to rain. "Oh god," she thought, she'd get all wet and she was only wearing a simple, white shirt! They climbed higher into the clouds and Hermione was freezing. It had been a hot summer day and as told - she was only wearing a white shirt and shorts. She could only hope for her flip-flops to stay on her feet.

After a while of sitting still, they finally arrived at Grimmauld Place 12. Frozen, Hermione climbed of the broom. She had thought that it would start to rain, and she had been right. As she entered the warm house she was all wet and soppy. She had the intention to go right upstairs to her room, unpack, and change her shirt to something warmer and dry, but as she entered she wasn't cold anymore. She actually felt quite comfortable. She was just standing there in the hallway and watching the members of the Order passing by until Harry called her from the kitchen.

"Coming!" she yelled back.

She sopped to the kitchen - forgot about her wet shirt, and everything under it that was very visible - and there she saw someone she didn't expect to see.

She saw professor Snape. Her potion's master on Hogwarts since five years. She wasn't exactly glad to see him. She was sure he would've felt the same way - if she wouldn't have been wearing a white, wet shirt. She felt his greedy eyes going over her body - the upper part of her body especially. It only took 5 seconds or something, but suddenly the tension in the small kitchen was awkward and everyone remained silent. Hermione saw that Harry had noticed Snape watching Hermione also and he quickly asked if Hermione wanted to go upstairs, to unpack. Hermione agreed and said goodbye to everyone in the kitchen.

"Goodbye Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley, Tonks! Goodbye Mr. Lupin," and then she remained silent for a second, "professor Snape..." she nodded.

As they were walking upstairs to unpack Harry tried to diffuse the tension a bit.

"Well, that was awkward," he said and then laughed. He succeeded at it.

Hermione laughed together with her best friend. "You should be talking! You weren't the one being exposed and analyzed by Snape!" she said as she poked him with her elbow – causing her more pain than him thanks to his ribs.

They kept laughing joyfully and they went to their rooms. Hermione and Harry went to Hermione's room to unpack her things and to catch up a little.

"Well, how are you doing?" she asked Harry.

"Hmm… Fine. Just fine. We've actually been pretty bored without our best girl friend…" he said and smiled.

"Well, I'm pleased to hear that..." she replied to him.

He laughed. "Howcome?"

"Because I've been rotting away in Muggle-London behind my closed window all by myself!" she said it with an amusing tone in her voice.

"It seems you're a bit bittered…" he laughed again, "It can't have been that bad! You went to Europe! While _we_," he said "were accompanied by _Snape_... Our favourite teacher of all times who likes little girls…"

"I'm not a _little girl_!" she yelled and she threw a pillow at him, "Lucky _you two_ aren't girls or I think Snape would've enjoyed his time here pretty much…" she laughed.

Hermione unpacked everything and put her things in the moldy smelling closet. While doing that, Harry told about his holiday, and 'adventures'with Ron. After Harry it was Hermione's turn. She told all about the cities and little villages where she had been and what she's seen. About eleven o' clock Mrs. Weasley came into the room.

"Hi guys! I didn't mean to interrupt but I think it's time for us to go to bed." she said, giving both of them a hint.

"Yes, you're right, Mrs. Weasley!" Harry said quickly, "I'm going to my room! Have a good night, 'Mione"

And then she was alone in the grey, sad room. She let herself fall in the old, king-size bed, covered with a thick cover. She didn't catch up with Ron yet, but she felt like she didn't need to. Since she saw him again something strange had happened... After she had hugged him there at home and after they left Muggle-London Hermione felt like all her everlasting love for Ron had decreased, flown away… Like she didn't need him as much as before anymore. Like she could live without him - if she just wanted to. He wasn't vital to live anymore. He was still one of her best friends of course. He would always be. But her feelings for him existed out of friendship and friendship only. She realized that her feelings had been this way for a while... She just hadn't noticed because she hadn't seen him in a long time and so. She felt unbelievably happy. She was free. Hermione knew that she would never be able to get him anyway. She knew what Ron thought about her. Sure Hermione was a good friend, but a _girlfriend_? That would never happen. She knew that Ron definitely didn't find her attractive. And now that didn't seem to matter that much anymore. She was relieved! After a year of suffering! Hermione lay down in bed, happily thinking of her friends. And what she'd do tomorrow. It turned out that she didn't have that much to be excited about for the next day...

* * *

"GET UUUUUP!"

Hermione heard Mrs. Weasley's voice yelling through the house.

"GET UP! GET UP! IT'S SEVEN O' CLOCK ALREADY!"

She heard her knocking on the twin's bedroom door next to hers, and it wasn't exactly gently… She was waiting for Mrs. Weasley to knock loudly on her door and to shout that she had to get up, but instead of that she heard the door opening very slowly.

"Hermione, love? Are you awake?" she whispered softly.

"Yes, yes, I am now..." Hermione replied.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up! It's just that this house is so dirty and I woke up some Weasleys to clean it with me. Or at least _try_. I don't expect you to help, of course! You just arrived here yesterday! You can rest a little, or read a little whatever you want to, honey! And where you want to, but I highly recommend you to stay here, since this is the cleanest place in the house," her voice purred. "Do you need anything? Do you want a bit of tea? Some croissants? Anything else, dear?"

"No, no, thank you, Mrs. Weasley... Perhaps just some more sleep..." she said slowly.

"Oh! There was this one thing I wanted to talk about with you!"

So that's why she really woke her up? Hermione's heart started to beat faster. About... No. Her heart went to a normal heartbeat again. She didn't care anymore. She felt relieved and smiled under the warm, cotton blankets.

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley?" she murmured in her pillow.

"Professor Snape's inappropriate behavior last night..."

Oh shit. She'd hoped no one had noticed. It was embarrassing enough her teacher had stared at her. At her damn breasts. For 5 seconds. Long enough. _Too _long.

"Oh. That." She said nonchalant.

"Yes, honey. I told him he has to apologize. He will as soon as you're awake! He promised me. Well, I made him promise. It was quite... How shall I say this? Well... inappropriate of him to do that," she said, "But I will let you go back to sleep. Sweet dreams, love!"

And she closed the heavy door. Hermione was thinking. What if someone else had noticed? Tonks perhaps? Or Fred and George! Oh, god no! They would make jokes about it all the time! Her thoughts kept going in rounds of what would happen when she would wake up some time later, and she fell asleep again.

Several hours later someone knocked on the door, gingerly this time.

Oh god. Who would this be again, Hermione thought sleepy. Then she thought of the day she'd be spending, and assumed it would be Harry who probably didn't have to help Mrs. Weasley either – and who couldn't go outside on this summer day either. She liked the thought of talking to Harry, sitting on her bed. Just talking.

"Come in!" she shouted at the door, her voice high because she was still tired.

The door opened fast, and quickly she grabbed her blanket, trying to cover herself and went sitting up straight - causing her bumping her head into the bookshelf situated above her head – what kind of a place for a bookshelf was that anyway? -. It was Snape. She didn't want to think at this moment. She was in her soft, silk nightdress, with lace, her blanket barely covered her, and neither did her nightdress. She just bumped her head onto the cupboard so she's probably got a pretty surprised expression on her face, if she didn't already look like an idiot since she didn't expect her professor to come in. And her hair! Oh, her hair! It probably looked like a bird nest! She didn't want to be thinking. She wanted to be invisible. And on top of all of it, she felt she started blushing. Oh god, why? She was staring at Snape with open mouth, and felt very disturbed.

Snape seemed to be as disturbed as she was. "Erm, excuse me, Mrs. Granger. I expected you somewhat more decent since you allowed me to come in," he said in his deep voice.

And he disappeared as soon as had appeared in her bedroom. He must've wanted to apologize for yesterday, Hermione thought as she rubbed the back of her head. She almost felt sorry for him. She decided it was time to get up. She yawned and stretched a bit, when she heard knocking again.

"Professor Snape...?" she asked carefully.

"No! It's Harry!" he laughed, "Why would I be Snape?"

"_Professor_ Snape, Harry," she heard Dumbledore correct him from behind the grey-striped walls.

"Come in! Quickly!" she shouted.

Harry came into the room again – "Close the door! Hurry a bit, please!" - and sat at the end of her bed again as she told what had just happened to her.

"He did _what_?" he asked surprised, "He can't just sneak into your room when he feels like it! He-"

"I _allowed _him to come in, Harry!"

"You did _what_? 'Mione! I can't believe it! Have you gone insane? Why would you want Snape in your bedroom?He's just-" he kept talking.

"I thought it was you!" she laughed as she threw a second pillow at him these two days.

A/N _Thank you so, so much for reading! It's my first fanfic, and I don't know if you'll like it - so please leave a review! It might help me a lot! Definitely don't be shy to criticize my work, it'll only help :) I'll update as soon as I've read the reviews and kind of changed the story and everything. Love you all, and thank you so much for the effort to read! Oh, and because English is not my first language, there might be some improvised words, please let me know!_

_ -Arialovesyouall_


	2. The Staring Contest

center2/…

iA/N Okay guys, thanks for hanging on to my story, and I really hope you'll be enjoying it! I'll try to update weekly, but for the next few chapters, it'll be more often. PLEASE leave reviews, they can really help me and I just LOVE reading them! And it would only take a very tiny, tiny bit of your time.. Please?

b-arialovesyouall/b/i

_iThe staring contest/i/center_

The next weeks at Grimmauld Place involved pretty much the same; Mrs. Weasley wanting to clean the house, pranks of the twins, members of the Order going in and out, and for Hermione, Harry and Ron? Speculating about Voldemort. Where he could be, who would be with him, when he would decide to attack. And who he would attack. Perhaps he would attack the Order, perhaps just Harry, perhaps Hogwarts… They had no clue. As the time slowly passed, the end of the summer holiday came closer. Hermione was happy she could go back to Hogwarts. It was her second home. Since she was introduced to the Wizarding world she had gotten a few new homes – her own, Hogwarts, but also the Weasley's home, The Burrow. And surprisingly, even Grimmauld Place. How uninviting it might be.

And suddenly, i_finally/i_, there it was. The end of the holiday. Hermione was already looking forward to learning all these new things! And her new books for school were very interesting – of course she'd already read all of them. She would've been a good Ravenclaw; her bravery was bigger than her urge to learn, though. She was proud to be a Gryffindor, but she loved all the other houses as well. She loved i_Hogwarts/i_.

"'Mione, can you hand me these for a second, please? Thanks," said Ron while everyone was preparing for the last summer evening all together and Hermione was quietly sitting on the stairs, helping Ron a bit. They had gone back to The Burrow to spend their last few days.

The Weasleys had a tradition – every last day of the summer holiday they had a big barbecue with their family and their children's friends who went to Hogwarts also. Mrs. Weasley had invited Luna and her father to come tonight too. Luna would stay over and go to King's Cross tomorrow together with the Weasleys, Hermione and Harry. Suddenly Hermione heard someone come sit quietly next to her. She turned her head a bit and saw Snape. Her thoughts went to the day she arrived immediately – and then to the day after, when he had seen her in her silk nightdress. She blushed.

"Mrs. Granger," she heard him say. He obviously didn't want to be here at the moment. "Molly must've forced him to apologize either way," she thought.

"Professor Snape," she replied as she was trying to move a bit further away from him – though she was inhaling his scent.

Her heart was beating in her throat. Sitting so close to him made her feel a bit uncomfortable. Especially now, sitting cozy on the stairs in the garden, with all these candles… It was too romantic… Especially now, when they both weren't wearing their robes. Hermione was wearing a thin summer dress and Snape was wearing black trousers and a white shirt, the buttons weren't closed that high up… Hermione saw that her professor actually had quite a nice body. Hermione! "Behave yourself," she thought. "He's your potions master, he's intolerable and you hate him!"

"As I tried before," he said in his deep,low voice, "I want to apologize for… that day you-"

She saw that he was feeling as uncomfortable as she did, if not, probably even more.

"Oh, professor, don't mind it!" she said fast, "I like to talk about it as less as you do," she murmured.

"Since Mrs. Weasley has forced me to apologize, I will, Mrs. Granger," he continued as if she had never spoken, "and I would like you to stop interrupting me every time I try to. So," he went on, "Mrs. Granger, I apologize for my inappropriate behavior the day you arrived at Grimmauld Place. It was very…" he tried to find a fitting word, "Let's just leave it like that. My apologies."

And he went away. She was feeling dizzy. What was wrong with her lately? Barely a month ago she had been crazy about Ron, and now she didn't feel anything more but friendship for him. And since Snape had looked at her that way at Grimmauld Place, she felt different about him. If the change wouldn't have happened before. She didn't know how, and she didn't know if that was a good thing or not… Someone else came to sit next to her.

"Hi Hermione," Luna said dreamily.

"Hi Luna!" said Hermione, trying to sound enthusiast about the upcoming barbecue and such.

"How are you?" she continued as serene as always.

Hermione nodded – her mind still full of Snape. "Just fine. What about you?"

"Oh, I'm good," she said surprised, like she didn't expect the logical following question, "I like all the people together. My father is here too, have you seen him already?" she asked.

"No, no, I haven't. I haven't talked too many people yet, only Ron, I think."

"I saw you talking to professor Snape," Luna said softly, "you both looked kind of disturbed. What was it about?"

Her heart skipped a beat. "Oh, nothing, Luna…" Hermione said and laughed it away.

"HARRY! HARRY! WHY DON'T YOU COME JOIN US?" Luna suddenly yelled across the garden full of plants and flowers.

Hermione hadn't even noticed him and looked up, just to see Harry's surprised look at them. He quickly walked up to them across the flower beds.

"Hi! Hermione, Luna," he nodded.

'Hi, harry!" they said in unison.

"Erm, Hermione," Harry said, "Were you talking to i_Snape/i_?"

"i_Professor/i_ Snape, Harry!" she replied. Oh, Merlin. Why had she even corrected him?

"Ehm, okay… i_Professor/i_ Snape then…"

"Nothing!" she said quickly when she remembered the question. Hermione was strongly irritated. She didn't want Luna to find out about it too…

"Or is it a secret?" he went on jokingly, "You guys seem to be pretty close lately…" He laughed.

And Hermione punched him in his stomach. She didn't know why she had done it; it just had been an impulse… They were being so, Merlin! She didn't even know how to explain! She did know Harry was only joking – but i_still/i_! She didn't know what had happened to her. Hermione never punched, slapped or even insulted anyone. That was except Malfoy.

"Ouch, Hermione! I was only kidding!" He rubbed his belly.

"Harry! I'm so sorry! I don't know what happ-" suddenly she kept silent. Behind Harry she saw Snape in a corner of the garden. Snape – with a satisfied grin on his face. Bet he was smiling because she'd punched Harry. She gave him a disgusted look. She definitely didn't want him to find out her freshly discovered feelings for her professor. If that's what they were. In reply to that he sent her a smile. She'd never seen him expressing any sense of emotion in public before. Must mean he returned some kind of feeling. It might've been love, hate, or whatever. It was an emotion.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" asked Luna with her serene voice.

"Nothing, nothing," she laughed it away again. She'd totally forgotten about Luna's existence.

"Don't you trust me, perhaps?" she asked with her tingling voice, "You know you can trust me, right?"

Yes, I can trust the daughter of The Quibbler's head redactor. And Merlin! Why didn't everyone mind their own business? If Ron would only say one thing about it now, she'd be sure he'd get something like a fist planted in his face. Or worse. No reason why this subject was so damn sensitive to her. Or perhaps.

"Of course I do, Luna," she replied friendly – the fakeness dripping of her voice, "It's just a bit… Oh blimey, Harry! Quit laughing and you tell her then!" Hermione said – irritation no longer hidden.

When Harry told – or tried to tell Luna about, well, the 'incident' as they called it, he couldn't stop laughing. He was making a lot of faces to prevent it, but still, he couldn't stop laughing. And of course Hermione didn't really like that. She thought it was bad enough already, nobody had to laugh about it too to make it worse.

"Oh," Luna said dreamily when Harry had finished the story. Hermione was glad that at least she didn't burst out laughing.

"Luna! LUNA!" they heard someone yell Luna's name across the garden, which smelled too strong like flowers.

"COMING!" she yelled back to Xenophilius.

"OUCH!" Harry said all of sudden.

"Merlin, Harry! Did I hit you that hard? I'm so sorry!" Pity she hadn't hit him harder. "He's been through more," she thought.

"No! It's my scar! It's hurting again!"

"Do you think that You-know-Who is… You know?"

"Yes… Yes, I think he is. He must be making some new plans…"

They didn't have any more time to talk about Voldemort because Molly called them for dinner. They quickly walked up to the big table in the middle of the garden. It was really _covered_ with all kinds of food. To Hermione's displeasure she saw that Snape was still wandering around there too. He was also walking up to the table and apparently he had a hard time choosing a seat. He strongly disliked nearly everyone who was present at the little party to end the holiday. At last, he chose the seat in between Molly and Percy – far away from Lupin. The fact that he'd chosen that seat meant that the whole side nearest to the barbecue was taken - Let's hope he burns himself - and there only remained five places on the opposite side, not all of them next to each other of course. One in between Lupin and Arthur, one in between Xenophilius and Fred and the other three were next to each other in between Ginny and George.

"Hey, Harry! Hermione!"

So there was Ron. The Golden Trio was probably ought to sit together. Hm, so, she had the choice: sitting with her best friends or with people she didn't speak to that often. The choice was rather easy. Ron immediately claimed the seat next to George, longing for some new pranks. And Hermione was so friendly that she let Harry sit next to Ginny, his girlfriend. So she had to sit in between them. That'd be a very interesting night. She sighed and took a seat.

"Thank you for your sacrifice, 'Mione," he said. And at first she didn't get it. What did he mean, sacrifice? But eventually, she did understand. She did understand when she saw the man who was in the opposite seat of hers. It was Snape. Bloody hell! Why did he have to be i_everywhere/i_? She quietly sat there while Ginny and Harry seemed to be in a very intense staring contest, and George was amusing Ron by turning Luna's tongue purple. She glanced up with the intention of looking around the table, but she didn't even get the chance to turn her head because a pair of black eyes, as beetles, pierced hers. She was startled at first, but he kept looking. She was somewhat embarrassed and looked away. After one or two seconds she saw from the corner of her eye that he did, too. She gingerly cast her gaze on him.

He was rather good looking, now she actually paid attention to it. She saw the beginning of his sternum and his strong arms covered by his shirt. Of course, covered. He surely didn't want everyone to see his Dark Mark. For some reason, she got quite excited by thinking that this man in front of her was a Death Eater.

"'Mione, quit it!" a little voice in her head told her. "For Merlin's sake, it's not polite to stare at people," it went on. But another voice, louder than the first one told her to keep looking now she finally had the chance and he wasn't covered in his black robes. The first voice was struggling to overwhelm the second one, but eventually it had to give up. "Yes," she thought, "when will I ever see him like this again? Perhaps never…"

She let her eyes wander to his chest, and she liked what she saw. When she slowly let her gaze get back up, a pair of dark eyes met hers. Shit. He looked rather amused, possibly because she had been watching him – and not very subtle. Bet she had been smiling. And on top of all of it he had noticed, of course. But if she looked further than that, there was also something else in his look. She knew what it was – interest. Clearly, interest.

She stared into his eyes – without shame -, and he stared back – which didn't surprise her. It seemed as if they had stared into each other's eyes for hours, and no one else seemed to notice. "This year at Hogwarts is going to be even more interesting than others," she thought while they kept both looking. His eyes full of interest, hers full of sudden desire.

A/N Please review? Love you guys! Now, get criticizing! :D


	3. Hogwarts will always be there to welcome

3/…

_Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home_

__**A/N Hi guys! I'm glad to see that you've come back! I just want to warn you, in this chapter there are a few parts that are a bit random… I had really NO inspiration and I tried to go on, so this is what I got. Tell me what you think, I love reading your reviews, they help me a lot, too! :D Oh, and the repetitive use of 'insufferable know-it-all' was on purpose. :D**

"'MIONE, GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT OF THAT BED!"

"Bloody hell, Harry! You don't have to scream like that!"

"'Mione, he's right, get up!" Ron smoothly joined him as Harry started to pull her warm covers of her.

She moaned and yawned shamelessly. Merlin, was it that late already? She had to hurry to get ready on time to leave to King's Cross! Fortunately, she'd packed her trunk a while ago already. Hermione rushed through the busy house to the bathroom, knocked, and heard Ginny's squeaky voice come out of the Weasley's bathroom. Okay, she'd have to wait. Well, she could as well have breakfast in the meanwhile.

She went down, and found most of the Weasleys and Luna sitting around the crowded table. Fred and George were busy with a disgusting looking food fight. With pity, she saw that Snape wasn't sitting around the noisy table – but hey, what'd she expect? Severus Snape wasn't exactly the man who'd happily sit around a big table accompanied by noisy children. He really wouldn't fit in there. She sat down and Molly handed her some bread quickly.

"Hermione, you have to hurry a bit if we don't want to be late for the Hogwarts Express. Some things might happen if we do are late, isn't it, Ron?" she said with a meaningful glance at Ron.

Ron's face turned scarlet and his breakfast suddenly needed his full attention.

* * *

Hermione finished her breakfast in a hurry and quickly ran back up to the old-fashioned bathroom. There she found Ginny walking out of it right as she arrived. She hurried to the shower, ignoring the claw-footed bathtub, let the hot water stream, and she undressed quickly. Once in the shower, she noticed that the water was steaming hot, and realised she'd have to open the cold water too if she didn't want to get burnt. In a minute or two, she was ready and she hopped out of the shower. Walking towards the big, standing mirror – which was also old-fashioned -, she left a trail of water but at the moment she couldn't exactly bother, something else needed her attention more.

"Merlin! Hermione, when do you actually pay attention?" She murmured to herself.

Her clothes weren't draped on the steamy mirror as usual, and soon Hermione found herself thinking of a way how to get her clothes out of her room without having to leave the hot bathroom wrapped in a towel. "Of course!" she thought, "hopefully it'll work." She grabbed her wand with wet hands, and said it.

"Accio clothes!"

Apparently her spell had worked, because the girl heard a noise against the door. But clothes couldn't fly through doors, so she'd still had to open the door and get her clothes there. She paced to the door, quickly opened it, and looked on her left and her right to see if no one was in the hallway. She was lucky, because she didn't see anyone. Quickly, Hermione grabbed her clothes and right before she closed the wooden door, she saw a head with dark, black hair coming up the stairs. "Didn't he leave already?" she thought. "I thought professors had to be at Hogwarts earlier… What was he still doing in The Burrow anyway?"

With thoughts racing through her mind, she dressed, grabbed her stuff and hurried to her room to pack these last few things. Once everything was properly in her trunk, she heard Molly yelling her name and she went down.

"Locomotor trunk!" she'd whispered softly.

"Ah, Hermione, there you are! We were waiting for you," she heard the warm voice say again, "Come, love, let's go to the car,"

Hermione was surprised they didn't use the Floo network or even brooms to get to King's Cross, but after a bit of thinking she realised there were no hearths at King's Cross and brooms would be a bit too obvious on a non-clouded day as this one. She was relieved too, anyway. She followed Harry and Ron and crawled into the car that was suspiciously bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. "God, I love magic," she thought.

* * *

They drove through the streets of London to get to King's Cross, and once arrived they rushed to platform 9 3/4.

"Ginny, dear! Come!"

"Yes, mum," she sighed as she obviously rolled her eyes.

"Mothers," Hermione whispered to her and Ginny laughed.

"Mothers," she agreed.

One by one they nonchalantly disappeared through the brick wall in between platforms 9 and 10 and yet again, Hermione saw the Hogwarts Express. The train she definitely loved most of all trains. Accompanied by Ginny, she walked through the train, looking for an empty compartment to stuff their trunks and pets. Ginny had bought a cat too this year – she suspected Harry from giving Ginny a bit of money. "Unimprovable" she thought while mentally shaking her head.

To Hermione's surprise they didn't find an empty compartment immediately, as it had been the case in other years. They kept strolling through the Hogwarts Express, and after a while they found a compartment with Snape, McGonagall, and Lupin. Ginny wanted to walk on as fast as possible, but Hermione was curious and went inside.

"Professor?" she said – and she thought she should've been a bit more specific because three heads turned to her, followed by a unison 'Yes, Miss Granger?', though she heard one rough 'What, Granger?' She coughed, "Professor McGonagall, I mean,"

"Yes?" she said in surprise.

Hermione felt an elbow in her ribs, followed by a whisper of Ginny that she had to hurry up, if they ever wanted to find an empty compartment.

"Why are there professors going to Hogwarts with the Hogwarts Express?"

"Ah, I thought your observant eye would've noticed," she smirked, "Well, since it's no longer safe for the students to travel alone, there are some professors aboard, as you see,"

"Oh," she nodded, "Well, we should be going to find a compartment. Enjoy your journey, professors," she smiled and walked out.

"What was that about? Why would you be interested?" Ginny laughed.

"I was just curious,"

Ginny imitated Snape with terrifying resemblance, "Do you like to be such an insufferable know-it-all, Mrs. Granger?"

They laughed and walked on; finally they had found a compartment. It was surprisingly empty, and they helped each other putting their trunks on the shelf for their baggage. They sat down and closed the door, so Crookshanks and Purr – Ginny's white kitten – could run around freely. They chatted a bit about the coming year on Hogwarts, and Hermione informed Ginny about the things she'd see this year. Hermione was really excited for her seventh year at Hogwarts. Partly because this year, Remus Lupin would be teaching again – he was her favourite DADA teacher, and I don't think there needed to be any more explanation for that.

* * *

After some long hours in the train, Hermione bought some Chocolate Frogs, and enjoying their sweets, the girls kept talking happily as the train rode on, on its way to Hogwarts.

"'Mione! Where were you?" said Ron as he came in, accompanied by Harry and Neville.

"Right here, Ronald," she replied.

"You could've told us! Hey, are those Chocolate Frogs? Mind if I get one?" he asked while he seated himself.

"Sure," she'd said, exchanging meaningful looks with Ginny. They'd just got to a point in their conversation where Ginny was about to confess who she fancied! Hermione was quite irritated by Ron's presence by the time, and as soon as they were at Hogsmeade, she'd get Ginny somewhere where none of their friends were. Ron really had no ability to sense the tension somewhere. She was sure that Ginny fancied Harry. It had just been so obvious, all these years. "They're perfect for each other," Hermione thought. "Hopefully that doesn't leave Ron and me to get together," But after considering Ron and Lavender's on-off relationship, she was relieved that perhaps it'd take a while before Ron would finally realize that he should really find another girlfriend. Luna, perhaps. If it wasn't herself, it was all fine for her.

* * *

"FIRST YEARS THIS WAY!"

Hermione and Ginny had hopped of the Express, and now they heard the very familiar voice of Hagrid, instructing the first years. It had been so long since that had been her. They saw Hagrid and the first years disappear towards the rowboats to get to the castle. But Ginny and Hermione weren't walking towards the Thestrals; they weren't planning on going to Hogwarts immediately. They could miss a sorting ceremony – and they'd be back before the food was served.

"Come!" said Hermione and she pulled Ginny's sleeve.

"'Mione, where are we going?"

"Hogsmeade, the Three Broomsticks,"

"But we're in our robes! Madam Rosmerta will notice!"

"I thought you liked a bit of adventure, Ginny? I found something for that, of course!"

"You did?" she said surprised as they ran through the small alleys of Hogsmeade.

"Hmhmm! Take this!" Hermione said as she gave Ginny a small bottle.

She gasped. "You didn't!"

"Yes, I did!" they started giggling, "Drink it! 1, 2, 3, cheers!"

They drank the Polyjuice Potion and immediately felt themselves grow. Ginny's features were switched for McGonagall's and Hermione's for Sprout's. Hermione handed Ginny a set of robes, and they changed somewhere in a dark cove of an alley.

* * *

"Ah! Minerva! Pomona!" Madam Rosmerta said, "Two butterbeer?"

"Yes, please," Hermione answered as she glanced at Ginny, who was almost giggling.

"What brings you two here? Shouldn't you be on the opening ceremony?"

"Oh, not this year, Madam," Hermione smiled softly.

She gestured Ginny to come sit in a dark corner with her.

"You're great, 'Mione!" McGonagall whispered, "I'd have never thought of it!"

"So, where were we in our conversation, hm?" Hermione asked with a meaningful glance at her.

"Well, it's… Promise me you won't tell!"

"I promise! I'd say Unbreakable Vow, but I don't think-"

"Oh, shut it! It's Harry," McGonagall blushed.

"I knew it! I knew it all along!"

Madam Rosmerta gave them a strange look, and Hermione realised she was still Sprout, and that she had been talking quite loud. The two girls – women kept on talking for a bit of time and 2 butterbeers longer and surely were enjoying their selves.

Hermione took a look on her watch she had worn for the occasion and Ginny noticed.

"What is that? Oh! I think I've seen dad wearing it once, it's something Muggles use, right?"

"Yes, it's a watch. Pretty much the same as a clock, but it's smaller, and it's not like your clocks at home. It actually tells the time," she whispered as she laughed, "And it tells me, that we should be heading back to Hogwarts if we don't want to get caught,"

"Ah, now already," Ginny – McGonagall - pouted.

"We'll return some other time," Hermione said to cheer her up, "For now, we can go to see Harry,"

McGonagall immediately started smiling widely and they got up, leaving The Three Broomsticks.

"I've never done such an exciting thing, 'Mione!"

She chuckled, "Prepare for more in my presence, my friend,"

* * *

BANG

"OUCH!"

"Shhht, Ginny!"

"Couldn't you make us fall somewhere else? Somewhere with softer ground?"

"Oh, shut up!" Hermione laughed, "Come on, let's get inside,"

The two girls were just rushing towards the wooden front doors, as they saw a dark figure leaving through these same doors. They ducked away and hid behind a big tree. The figure kept on walking towards the gate, but when it was near, it looked around as if it was searching for something or someone.

"Come!" Hermione whispered softly, "This is our chance to get inside!"

Once again, she pulled Ginny's sleeve and they hurried to the doors. They just wanted to push the heavy door, and were still walking forward– until they heard a loud coughing.

"Miss Granger, Miss Weasley,"

"Oh Merlin," she thought. She'd recognize that voice out of thousands. Perhaps because it had called her an insufferable know-it-all an uncountable amount of times before.

"To my quarters. Now," the voice hissed slowly.

The girls kept silent as they were pacing through the dark, cold corridors, on their way to the dungeons. The dungeons where Severus Snape's quarters were.

* * *

"Have a seat, ladies," he said in a rough tone.

"He seems utterly pleased with himself," Hermione thought as she rolled her eyes.

"Any problems by taking a seat, Miss Granger?" Snape said, with an irritated tone now.

"No, sir," she replied in her sweetest voice, "Why did you want us to come here?"

Ginny chuckled.

"Problems for you then, Miss Weasley?"

"No, sir," Ginny would not be able to hold her laughter back for much longer, Hermione noticed.

"Well then, explain to me, what you two are doing outside the castle, during the Welcoming Feast?"

"What were you doing, sir?"

"It's none of your business, but if you really want to know – insufferable know-it-all you are -, I was looking for you two,"

"Oh," she kept silent.

"Well, then. Explain,"

To Hermione's relief, Ginny started talking. "We were in Hogsmeade, sir,"

What was she doing? She wouldn't tell what they were exactly doing, right?

He looked surprised. "And what were you doing in Hogsmeade, Miss Weasley?"

"We were at The Three Broomsticks," she said as she innocently batted her eyes.

He coughed. He definitely didn't know what to reply on that. "Severus Snape has no idea what to say - that's something new," Hermione thought.

"If none of you have a further _proper_ explanation for your absence, than you shall be expected in detention this Friday at 3 o'clock in the afternoon."

No, he definitely didn't know what to say to their honesty.

* * *

"Ginny! 'Mione! Where were you?" asked Harry as they sat down next to each other, in between George and Neville.

"Snape's quarters," Ginny replied with an amused look in her eyes.

Harry looked startled. "Snape's… Snape's quarters? Why? Everyone was in the Great Hall already!"

"We've been bad girls, Harry," She said and she winked at him.

Hermione laughed and filled her plate with what by now were all kinds desserts. Their evening went quite good, except the fact that Snape had caught them. Why, Merlin's beard, did it have to be him who caught them? There were plenty of teachers at Hogwarts! She cast his gaze on Severus Snape, sitting on the Head Table – filling his plate with that disgusting smirk on his face. Hermione definitely didn't know what she felt for that git anymore. Sometimes, she felt like there was something – especially when she thought about yesterday, at The Burrow. But then at other times, she felt as usual – Severus Snape was a greasy, old git. She hadn't realised she was still looking at him until the dark eyes met hers again. Piercing her gaze, again with deep interest, she quickly looked away.

"…Isn't it, 'Mione?"

"Excuse me?" she asked as she flushed.

She had been so busy thinking about _Snape_, that she'd totally forgot about her friends – or even where she was.

"That Dobby and Winky get pretty well together now," Harry said, "You're not interested in the SPEW anymore?"

"It's the 'Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare stands', Harry, S.P.E.W.!"

Harry grinned and turned back to Ron to talk to him again.

* * *

"What do I do?" Hermione thought, lying in the soft cushions of her bed in the Gryffindor Tower. She was thinking about yesterday, and all her previous years on Hogwarts. Something had definitely changed in her potion master's behaviour. He'd always found Hermione an insufferable know-it-all, obviously. Though she was just trying to prove herself, as a Muggle-born. She snorted, thinking that he could go to hell if he couldn't appreciate her. She'd see tomorrow, when she got her timetables in the Great Hall.

* * *

"Miss Granger?"

Hermione heard McGonagall's voice and she looked up. She was startled at first, thinking that she'd perhaps found out about her – Well, Ginny's - presence in The Three Broomsticks, but she just was handing out the timetables.

"Yes?" she said.

"Your timetable," McGonagall said as she handed it to her, letting something cold slip into the palm of her hand, "You know what it is, I suppose," And she walked back away – "Longbottom?" – as quickly as she'd come.

Hermione looked at the object in her palm and recognised it as the Timeturner. She looked at her timetable, and saw that indeed some of her classes overlapped each other. "So, I'll have to use it again," she thought. To her displeasure, Hermione saw that each Tuesday, from 9 to 12 o'clock, they had potions. Which meant in a quarter. Starting the day with potions was never fun, but on the first day of school? Bloody hell! She felt an elbow poking in her ribs and heard someone sigh.

"Ugh, 'Mione, have you seen it?"

"Yes, Ronald, I have,"

"And the subjects! Why are there so many? Like exams aren't hard enough already! They don't have to add 3 classes for that!"

She rolled her eyes. "Let me see, Ron,"

"Show me yours," he said as they swapped timetables.

Ron's timetable was way less filled, as she'd expected. How could he nag when he took only the needed classes?

* * *

_**Ronald Weasley **__**7**__**th**__** Year **__**Gryffindor**_

* * *

_**Monday **__9 o'clock – 12 o'clock____13 o'clock – 16 o'clock_

_ Charms Potions _

* * *

_**Tuesday**__13 o'clock – 16 o'clock_

_ DADA_

* * *

_**Wednesday **__9 o'clock – 12 o'clock_

_ Herbology_

* * *

_**Thursday **__22 o'clock – 1 o'clock_

_ Astronomy_

* * *

_**Friday **__9 o'clock – 12 o'clock_

_ Transfiguration_

* * *

"Ronald, are you kidding me?" she asked and he looked at her, "You only took the classes that are really necessary?"

"Yeah, sure. But, 'Mione! How can you – I mean, that's not possible! Look!"

* * *

_**Hermione Granger **__**7**__**th**__** Year **__**Gryffindor**_

* * *

_**Monday **__9 o'clock – 11 o'clock __13 o'clock – 15 o'clock_

_ Arithmancy __Charms_

_ 14 o'clock – 16 o'clock_

_ Ancient Runes_

* * *

_**Tuesday **__9 o'clock – 12 o'clock__13 o'clock – 16 o-clock_

_ Potions __DADA_

* * *

_**Wednesday **__9 o'clock – 12 o'clock_

_ Herbology_

* * *

_**Thursday **__9 o'clock – 11 o'clock __ 10 o'clock – 12 o'clock_

_ Muggle studies __Flying and Care of Magical Creatures_

_ 9 o'clock – 10 o'clock __22 o'clock – 1 o'clock_

_ History of Magic __Astronomy_

* * *

_**Friday **__9 o'clock – 12 o'clock_

_ Transfiguration_

* * *

"They overlap!" He stared at her with open mouth.

"Yes, Ronald they do," she said as she quickly pulled the timetable out of his hands and got up, "We're going to be late for potions,"

* * *

"Ah, Miss Granger, Weasley, Potter," he looked at them storming into the cold, dark classroom, "You've decided to come either way,"

"My apologies, professor,"

"Sit and follow the instructions on the blackboard. You can work in pairs,"

"But sir, we're three, and there's no one else left to work with, who-"

"As I said, Miss Granger – sit and follow my instructions. I have no business with you or your little friends here," And he paced away.

"Harry, you go with Ron, or else it'll be a complete disaster for both of you, I suspect," she whispered.

Ron hissed at her, but Harry held him back. "She means it well, Ron,"

Hermione quickly walked up to the one table in the front that was still left and started stalling out her ingredients. She carefully read the instructions on the blackboard, and started pouring her ingredients in her cauldron. She was halfway the formula when she heard a snarling voice behind her. Her heart started pounding in her ears.

"Miss Granger, I'd be pleased if you'd spend the rest of the class period restocking the shelves," He turned to walk away again.

"But, sir! My potion! How am I ought to-"

"You have heard me, Miss Granger. And I do not like students who talk back to me. 10 points from Gryffindor,"

"But sir!"

"You have heard me, Granger. Or shall I have to take another 10 points from Gryffindor, perhaps? It's no problem if you please so,"

"No, sir," She said and with her head hanging down she started to put away her books and ingredients.

"Leave these here, Granger. You will be able to put them away when this class is over,"

She didn't take the effort to reply anymore, and made her way to the old heavy door in the corner of the potions classroom. She went down the stairs, and scared herself a bit as she skipped a step. She walked up to the shelf which was too full with jars and pots, within them things Hermione could not name, floating. She went sitting on her knees, as Snape probably expected her to. The cold stone floor felt hard and utterly uncomfortable to her bones and bare flesh. Hermione started restocking the shelves, but after a minute or ten, she quitted her task. "He has no right to do this," She thought, letting herself slide down against the wall, next to the also full cupboards, "He can simply not do this," And there she sat in the cellar in the dungeons – probably as deep as the Black Lake was situated, thinking about Severus Snape – the man with extreme mood swings.

* * *

She heard heavy footsteps coming in her direction and she quickly got up. She heard his voice snarling before she saw the greasy, hook-nosed man with eyes that were now used to the darkness.

"You have not done your work properly, I see, Granger,"

She straightened her back and raised her chin. "Sir, you had no right to-"

"Quiet down when I speak, Granger,"

She looked down again, his unfriendly tone killing her brave mood. "Yes, sir,"

"You have not done your work?"

"No, sir,"

"Have you got an explanation for that, Granger?"

"Yes, sir. You had no right-"

"A proper explanation?"

"As I said, you-"

"That's not proper to me. Detention, then," said Snape as he turned on his heels and started to walk towards the wooden stairs.

"But, sir!" he turned around to face the girl again. "You have already given me detention this week!"

"Then you can come the week afterwards, too,"

She sighed. "Yes, sir,"

"Good, you may leave now,"

She hurried towards the cellar's exit, passing Snape as she rushed out the room. She had been able to touch him, if she wanted. She had been able to smell his self-brewed aftershave. She eagerly walked to her table, to find her cauldron emptied already and wondered if she'd got a mark for this potion. A bad mark, obviously. Hermione decided she'd better not ask if she didn't want another detention and she quickly stuffed her things in her bag, which was for change, nearly empty. She rushed out of the classroom to find her friends, Harry and Ron, waiting for her there.

"What was that about, Hermione?"

"Not a single idea,"

"Bloody hell! That git just likes to annoy his students, I guess!"

They saw a person in dark robes passing by, and Hermione swore that she had heard him snorting when he had walked past them.

"Come on, let's go to the Great Hall,"

* * *

"Ginny! Here you are! We have to fly, really! Snape is waiting for us!"

The stunned look on the young girl's face showed Hermione that she had totally forgotten about their detention.

"Right!" She packed her books altogether and she joined Hermione to their detention, which would have place in the cold dungeons.

* * *

"Weasley, Granger, sit,"

The girls immediately made gestures to go sitting on chairs next to each other, but before they could properly sit down, she felt a large hand on her back and her heart skipped a beat.

"Miss Granger, you can join me there," he said surprisingly friendly as he pointed a long finger towards the door leading to the cellar again.

"Why, sir?" She was no longer able to hide her irritation.

"Because I say so," he snapped. "Don't think that you'll get much from me when you come late to class AND detention, plus you talk back to me – as usual. It is not my fault when you forget to think about your duties and possible detentions for and from me,"

Bloody hell! She had been thinking about the man this whole bloody week! If he only knew!

"Yes, sir,"

"Granger, restocking the shelves, you know what to do. And Weasley, I ask you to write a two thousand words about lycanthropy, since your latest test about the subject was quite poor,"

Ginny and Hermione looked at one another significant and Hermione went down the stairs as she saw Ginny sit down and taking out her quill and parchment. If they both had to restock the shelves, they could've talked to one another, at least. Except if the foolish man felt the urge to observe them closely as they did what was actually his job. She snorted.

Yet again, Hermione sat down – but not on her knees this time. She avoided those because they had still hurt from her latest trip to the dungeons. After what must've been a half an hour, professor Snape came into the room. He quietly sat down on a chair with rather soft-looking cushions to, apparently, look at her as she worked. She felt annoyed with it and hoped that he'd leave again, soon. Only increasing her annoyance, she noticed that he stayed a longer time down there than was actually necessary. She sighed – hoping he'd heard it. After some time, to her, and obviously also Snape's astonishment she heard the older man say that it was time. Hermione felt a flush of relief as she safely stood up, nearly attacking the floor caused by her legs which were cramped from staying in the same position for over an hour.

She heard feet shuffling behind her, not knowing what to do, and eventually, she just heard the voice of Severus Snape saying, "Are you alright, Granger?" still sounding severe, but a bit of worriedness was found in his voice as well.

"Yes," she said as she turned around to cast her gaze on him.

"Very well, then," he said, "Now, Granger, don't forget you have detention next week also. Enjoy your night," he sneered in full contrast with what he had said. Before she could thank him the man rushed away already. The resemblance with an oversized bat was bigger than she'd thought at first.

Hermione went back into the empty classroom, which was only used by Ginny who was standing next to her table.

"And, did you enjoy yourself?" she grinned.

"Oh, surely. Especially because the old bat decided to plant his lazy arse on a soft chair as he observed me while I did the hard work.

"Well, you've deserved it, love!" she laughed. "You've been a very, very bad girl,"

Hermione snorted and together they went back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

* * *

The following week flew by. Hermione attended all of her classes, thanks to the Timeturner, of course, and it felt as if there had never been a summer holiday. When it was Friday again, she was quite happy. Not only because the exhausting week was finally over, but also because she'd finally be able to see Snape again – or Severus, as she liked to call him in her mind, even though it was in detention. She hadn't been able to keep this man - this Death Eater! - out of her mind, and she had been longing to see him the whole past week. She didn't know what had happened between them that night at The Burrow, but it had definitely been something. And he felt the same. She knew that she hadn't imagined the whole thing with the Weasleys because every time she glanced at Severus-Snape in the Great Hall, she saw him looking back. Eyes full of flaming interest.

* * *

After she had eaten something small for lunch in the Great Hall, Hermione went to the common room to read a bit. She had found an interesting book in the library about the Dark Arts, which looked as it should've been in the Restricted Section. This girl would not let the chance for 'forbidden' information pass, of course. Time passed quickly, and soon it was time to get ready to go to detention again. She still couldn't bring herself to thinking of it, actually. Her, Hermione Granger, the first two weeks of the school year, detention! She had always been a perfect student; she never forgot something or anything. Every teacher loved her – and did they have a choice? She was perfect as a student. Always polite, well-mannered and she knew everything what she could learn from books. They all had Hermione Granger as their favourite. Well, except one, who didn't think she was a 'model student' – but an insufferable know-it-all. And that still bothered her. But she had a plan. She mentally smirked as she thought about it – satisfied that she had come up with the idea, and at a quarter to three, she took off to the dungeons. Her feelings for Severus Snape had gotten quite clear to herself the past three weeks. And that's exactly wherefore she had made her plan. Severus Snape. Normally, Hermione would be shy, and hesitating – but for some reason that was not the case when Severus Snape was involved. He intrigued her. When thinking about him, Hermione felt a flood of feelings come over her. She couldn't describe it – it wasn't one thing. One thing she could easily name, but this? She knew that deep inside, she loved the man – and that she had for a bit, but she felt other things for him, too. She wondered why he still worked as a Death Eater, for example. If he worked for the Order – then wouldn't Voldemort know? All these unanswerable questions were what kept her from avoiding Snape. To lessen her strong feelings for this possible dangerous man. He really intrigued her. The mysterious, dark figure – who nobody really knew.

* * *

**A/N So, I hope you liked it, and the next chapter is my favourite from what I have yet! :D Please leave a review, it is greatly appreciated! Anyone who wishes to offer theirselves as a beta reader, just leave a review saying that. I check and try to reply to all my reviews, so I'll read it for sure! :D -Aria**


	4. Detention, Miss Granger!

4/…

_Detention, Miss Granger!_

**A/N Parts in italic are JK Rowling's. Not making any money!**

* * *

Gingerly knocking on the potions master's wooden door.

"Come in," A deep voice barked.

"Hm, apparently he's not in a good mood today," Hermione Granger thought, "For change. But let _me_ change that." She softly smiled in pleasure as she thought about her plan again.

Hermione must've been really lucky, because there were no other students, nor teachers in the cold room that seemed too big for the two of them.

"Sir," She nodded and she sat down on her usual table in the front of the classroom.

For a while, Hermione sat there, writing formulas for potions on a piece of parchment – Severus writing _something_ on _something_. Hermione wasn't really paying attention to her formulas, actually, but to her potions master. If her plan wanted to work, he had to do something – like going down to his stock or something. Anything. But for now, he hadn't moved. Hermione glanced at her watch; she had worn it for the occasion again. That, and a lace pair of knickers and a lace bra, were the only things she was wearing beneath her robes, by the way. She kept on writing, but found herself doodling S.S. in a corner of her parchment. She sighed and looked up. Still no movement. The girl dipped the point of her quill in the pot of ink she'd brought again. Hermione was so bored at this point that she got extremely interested in something that was floating in a green substance on the shelf besides her. She sighed again.

"Come _on_!" She thought. And she sat, waiting as the minutes on the clock passed by. She dipped her quill in her pot of ink once again. Hermione looked on her watch - _again_.

Only five minutes had passed. How could time possibly go this slow? She sighed yet again. Knocking on the door. Hermione looked up as Severus rushed past her, to the already open door. She turned her head as far as possible and tried to see who was standing in front of the door, and she saw Lupin. "Must need something," she thought. "But that'll totally screw up my plan," She bit her lip. Severus passed again, and he went down to his stock. Not a minute later he returned already, holding a flask with what apparently was a potion. "Probably his wolfsbane," she thought. Lupin nodded and left, a small, thankful smile on his face. And there she sat again. Doodling on her parchment.

After what must've been a half an hour, the potions master finally went looking for something in the dark room, behind the classroom again. The girl got up. "Here we go," Hermione thought, her heart pounding in her ears. She sighed and closed her eyes – unbuttoning her cloak.

* * *

Severus found himself swearing when he didn't find the porcupine quills in his stock. "These bloody children," he thought. "Better be heading back, before Miss Know-It-All gets something in that stubborn head of hers. Pretty amusing, though," He smirked and placed his foot on the first step of the stairs.

When he went back up into his cold, dark classroom, he definitely didn't find what he'd expected. He'd expected Granger, still diligently writing on her table. Tongue out a bit, "for her concentration, I guess,". Severus smirked again. But no, what he'd found was far from what he'd expected. She hadn't even stood up to protest against his detention. She wasn't even standing in front of his desk, irritated or something like that.

He found Miss Granger _on_ his desk. _Lying_ on his desk. And she wasn't exactly wearing a lot. Well – a watch and underwear, he saw. Why did she act like this? He sighed and walked towards a shelf filled with ingredients on the long, cold wall.

He coughed. "Miss Granger," he began, "please remove yourself from my desk, and dress,"

"What?" asked Hermione on a soft tone.

He turned around to face her again. Bloody hell, she was beautiful. "You heard me, Granger,"

She smiled. "Is that what you want then, Severus?"

_Severus_? He felt the heat as his face flushed. In front of his bloody student.

He closed his eyes. "Yes, Miss Granger, please," She couldn't possibly know.

"I'm not very sure of that," She said as she teasingly walked up to him.

Severus glanced to the left, to see if the door of his classroom was open – as he had left it. But of course, Miss Granger had taken care of that. She moved closer to him, pushing her breasts against his chest. Merlin, he was her bloody professor, wasn't he? He should have control in situations like this!

He coughed again and felt very uncomfortable. "Hermione, please,"

Her brown eyes got bigger. Shit. He'd called her Hermione. He could concentrate on not calling her that in his classroom, when he _had _his full concentration – but now it was quite hard, to be honest.

"What Severus?" She asked playfully, "Tell me what you please, then?"

"I-I… Hermione," Oh Merlin. He'd slipped again.

"Yes, Severus?"

But she didn't give him any time to reply, because before he could open his mouth, her lips were pressing against his. Merlin, he'd never though Hermione was of the confident type.

"Hr..Hrmn…" He mumbled. But he gave up. Then what did she expect? Of course he'd eventually give in. Not every student shows up to detention offering herself to him like this. And _this_ was Hermione Granger. The sixteen year old, he'd fancied. Sixteen year old. It was _wrong_!

He pulled away. "Herm-Miss Granger," He said, "Please,"

Hermione looked confused. "What then?"

"This is wrong,"

"I think you mind as much as I do," she said. And she was right. At this moment, the thought that came up his mind wasn't that it was wrong – just that he liked it. And that he wanted – _needed_ – more of her.

Why needed this girl to make everything so damn hard?

He sighed. "You're right,"

She pulled his head towards herself and they started kissing again. Hermione even more roughly this time. She was kissing him a way he'd never expected her to. He saw her more as a sweet and tender girl – but he liked her either way. He liked her any way, actually.

* * *

_The ceiling and walls had been draped with emerald, crimson and gold hangings, so that it looked as though they were all inside a vast tent. The room was crowded and stuffy and bathed in the red light cast by an ornate golden lamp dangling from the centre of the ceiling in which real fairies were fluttering, each a brilliant speck of light. Loud singing accompanied by what sounded like mandolins issued from a distant corner; a haze of pipe smoke hung over several elderly warlocks deep in conversation, and a number of house-elves were negotiating their way squeakily through the forest of knees, obscured by the heavy silver platters of food they were bearing, so that they looked like little roving tables._

Severus was wandering around on Horace Slughorn's Christmas party. Not amused, obviously. Why did former Slug Club-members have to be present, anyway? He was just planning on commenting on Potter's behaviour when he noticed him and his lunatic date, that Lovegood-girl, were not standing alone in that dark corner anymore. He sneaked a little closer to them, to listen to their conversation. Thankful that the corner was barely lit with these ridiculous lamps.

_"Harry! There you are, thank goodness! Hi, Luna!" _Said Hermione.

_"What's happened to you?" _Potter replied.

_"Oh, I've just escaped — I mean, I've just left Cormac. Under the mistletoe... McLaggen makes Grawp look a gentleman. Let's go this way, we'll be able to see him coming, he's so tall..." _she replied.

Who's Grawp?

Severus walked another bit closer to the companyand made sure they could see him now. He cleared his throat and made sure that arrogant Mister Potter would hear it.

"Potter," He sneered, but his thoughts went to somewhere – or better, someone else. "Hmm, Miss Granger's looking remarkably fine indeed this evening," He thought.

"Sir," Potter replied – obviously irritated that Severus was interrupting their conversation. And the conversation hadn't even been very interesting. He grinned – but immediately quitted it.

Shit. He hadn't actually known what he intended to say to Potter when he had spoken. "Fool!" Severus thought.

"I just wanted to add that that's not how you speak to a _lady_," He made up, it was true anyway, "You cannot just comment on how _awful _they look, Potter,"

Potter and Granger had exchanged significant glances and Severus regretted what he'd said. Well, it was the first thing that had popped into his mind. That bloody boy had no manners. Just as his goddamn father, arrogant and without respect. Well, he could be as disrespectful as them. At least.

"Yes, sir," Potter had replied – and to his astonishment, Granger had blushed. Probably because he'd called her 'a lady'. He hadn't meant it anyway. He smirked. "Stupid Granger," he thought, "though you look extremely fine, tonight, love," He added in his thoughts. And as he walked away, with the image of Granger on his mind, his mood was better than before talking to Potter. Surprisingly. Although that may not have been caused by Potter himself.

* * *

"We cannot, Hermione,"

"Shut up, you fool, and kiss me,"

His lips could follow the movements of hers surprisingly easy, and it was hard for him to quit. This was the girl he'd wanted we're speaking about, thank you very much. Perhaps she didn't see it the way he did. She wasn't just another Head Girl, to him. Perhaps he was just another teacher to her… But no, Granger was no slut. Not as slutty as Miss Weasley had been, last year. He mentally smirked.

He pulled away yet again. "Miss Granger, I think we should discuss this first,"

She looked confused. "Discuss?"

He looked down and sighed. Severus felt his head being lifted with one slender finger of hers under his chin, and he was forced to look into her big, brown eyes.

"I doubt there's any more to discuss, Severus," She began, "Your glances at me that night at The Burrow told me enough. I may not be able to read minds, but I am still a woman,"

He snorted. So she knew.

"But there might be one thing that I'd love to know, Severus,"

He looked at her with a questionable look in his black eyes.

"I'm dying to know, actually,"

Now he really wanted to know. "Yes?"

"How long?" Asked Hermione, with honest wondering visible in her gaze.

"Long enough," Of course he'd loved her for a long time, he didn't kiss every bloody student!

She looked satisfied at him. "I love you, Severus,"

Yet she was longing for more, Severus noticed. The girl grabbed his hair and with a brusque movement she planted her lips on his again. This was so, unbelievably _wrong_. He pulled away and took a good look at her.

Her brown hair fell in perfect, longcurls over her body, covering her gracious back and a part of her soft, porcelain neck. Her eyes had lit up when she had kissed him the first time, and by now it was as if there were tiny lights burning in the pupil of her chocolate brownish eyes. Like the lights on the Christmas party. Her skin was pale, - he let his hands run over her waist again -, and extremely soft, too. She looked utterly feminine and surprisingly seductive. He'd honestly, never seen her _that_ way. She looked too attractive to ignore. No one could blame him.

He sighed. Wrong could wait.

* * *

Hermione let out her breath that she'd been holding when he had been watching her. Her head was grabbed by two big, warm hands and for the first time it wasn't her who pressed her lips against his – for the first time, it was the other way around. He must've realized that she returned his feelings. She felt his hands run over her body. At first he'd grabbed her waist, pulling her closer to himself, feeling her warmth nearer to him. He let his hands slowly go down – he was obviously hesitating. "No need for that," she thought as she gasped for breath. Hermione pulled him closer to show him that there was indeed no need to hesitate and his tongue found hers.

"Bloody hell! Ron is nothing to this," she thought. Hermione suddenly got a strange feeling, Severus slipping into her mind, she realized. "How-?" She softly smiled. "Occlumency," She heard his agreeing grin inside of her head. "You think too much, Granger," She smirked. She intentionally thought about the first time when she'd realized she loved him, about that night in The Burrow, and now, when he had come out of his stock and saw her – and she saw the surprised look on his face. "Brilliant," He thought. "Brilliant indeed," She replied.

Severus softly laughed when he felt her jump up a little when his hands grabbed her arse. He was now kissing her neck, and Hermione knew all of sudden. This was her man – without a doubt.

She'd forgotten that he could still hear everything that she thought, and she heard him moan satisfied when Hermione thought it. Severus slowly released her and he burst out laughing – probably caused by Hermione herself, who was pouting now.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," He smiled.

He smiled. Severus Snape smiled. He softly gave her one last kiss and then managed to get her to his chair, and in his lap.

Hermione brought her mouth to his ear. "I love you," She whispered.

He cupped her chin with one big hand and on his turn he brought his mouth to her ear. "I love you more,"

She grinned and kissed his cheek. And there she sat. In Severus Snape's lap, with his heartbeat accompanied by hers. His mouth murmuring loving words in her neck.

* * *

**A/N I'm glad to see you here again, and I hope you liked it! I love the reviews, so keep them coming! They do help me a lot. From now on, I'll have to write again to update, so I'll try to update each Sunday! -Arialovesyouall**


	5. Yours Truly

5/...

_Yours Truly_

**A/N Hi guys! I'm sorry for the long waiting you had to endure for this chapter, but I'll try to update more frequently... In this chapter some important things happen, some things that will be important for the rest of the story. While I was gone, I didn't just leave PSWL, but I thought about the storyline, which is now finished. My writing style might've changed a bit, because I've written other things too in the meantime. I hope you still like it, though, and drama is soon to come! Please stay tuned, I promise it'll be worth it, and leave a review, they really help me! Thank you!**

_**-Aria**_

"Hello? Hermione?"

Startled, the young girl looked up from her plate filled with food she wasn't actually going to eat. She had been thinking about what had happened a couple of days before non-stop, and was thinking it through too much. It felt good, that was what was important, the rest would fall into place. At least that was what she had been telling herself the past few days.

"Yes? I'm sorry, I was-"

"Thinking about a boy? Tell me, who is it?" said Ginny, way too quickly to Hermione's liking.

"_What_?" Hermione tried to act as if she had no idea what her best friend was talking about, and put on a disgusted face. "I am not thinking about anyone!"

"Oh, come on! Lately you're always daydreaming, Parvati heard you talking in your sleep-"

Before she could reveal any more embarassing details, Hermione interrupted her. "What? What did I say? I mean - _why _is she even listening to me babbling in my sleep?"

"You shouldn't talk that loud!" And the redhead bursted out laughing.

Hermione felt her face flush, and murmured, "Great,"

"Hey, I didn't say it'd be a bad thing. It's just that if there's something, or someone, you can tell me",

"I know, but there is no one",

"Hmm, how come I don't believe you?" Ginny snorted.

"Well, that's your problem..."

"Oh, 'Mione! It's nothing to be ashamed of",

"I know, but there is nothing to be ashamed of, but if there is, I'll make sure to tell you. Fine?"

"I'm your best friend, and I'll always be here for you, just so you know",

"I know, and I might need you some time", Hermione quietly laughed the whole idiotic conversation away.

The younger girl shuffled closer towards her friend, and put her hand on her arm. "'Mione, if anything's wrong, or you need a talk, I'm here, you know",

"Yes, yes, I know. I was only kidding, everything's completely fine, thank you",

"Good. I should be going, though", she continued, "And you too, if you don't want Snape to pick on you for a full two hours",

At hearing the sound of his name, even though spoken disgustedly by Ginny, Hermione immediately felt better. She wouldn't tell anyone, would she? And he definitely wouldn't either. It would be their secret, and nobody would ever find out. They could be together, and eventually, things would fall into place, right?

She loved him, and he loved her. That was as clear as crystal - and most of all, the only thing that really mattered. But deep inside, she knew, and she knew that he knew, that what they were doing was wrong. The only thing they could do was hope for the best, and let their love guide them into the unfamiliar jungle that was life.

* * *

"Place your flasks on my desk, and if you are able to do it without any idiotic explosions," said Severus, glancing at Neville who was now carefully holding his flask with Babbling Beverage with both hands. "you are dismissed",

The potions class was over already, and Hermione had had a hard time actually brewing her potion, and not simply staring at her professor. Not that he would've minded. It's just that all of the seventh year Gryffindors _and _Slytherins were present in the same room, and it'd be quite obvious, now wouldn't it? She probably wouldn't even notice if her belongings were melting away because her cauldron had exploded, while Professor Snape was marking some essays. But fortunately, class was over now. Quickly putting away her things, Hermione stood up and nearly bumped her head onto her professor's chest.

Her breath was taken away by the magnificent scent that was now completely filling up her nostrils, and only after one or two seconds, she was able to form a proper sentence again. Well, it is what you call proper, of course.

"Sir! I-I'm sorry! I was hurry, I mean, I was just-" She stared into his charcoal eyes, not able to fix her gaze on anything but the person whom she adored.

"No problem", he waited and then added in his velvety voice, "Miss Granger",

"I-I apologize", she said, to which he answered with a broad grin.

Finally turning around, Ron was glancing at her with a look that said 'what the actual fuck did I just experience'. The girl grabbed her bag, and hurriedly, she joined her friends. She really didn't want to answer any questions about the incident, so she walked ahead. Also, during the seemingly 'odd' intercourse between them, Severus had been able to hand her something. The Gryffindor girl tightened her grasp on the thing that she was holding in her right hand now. Ignoring the whispered conversation between Harry and Ron behind her, she kept on walking, and when they had finally arrived in the Gryffindor Tower, Hermione immediately went upstairs to the girls' dorm to read the thing that she discovered was a note from her beloved.

_My study, 7PM. Come via potions classroom._

_Yours truly, S._

Only seeing his handwriting made her happy and warm inside, and she did not hesitate about whether she would be present at 7PM in his study or not. Any quality time with this man was a gift to her.

* * *

At a quarter to seven, Hermione was checking herself one last time in front of the mirror. She wasn't the type that really cared about her appearance, but she wanted to look her best for Severus. She had worn her normal robes, since it was Tuesday, a normal day of the week, but she had pulled up her skirt slightly higher, so more of her legs were visible, and she had worn a top that might have been a size too small for her, so that her feminine figure was accentuated. She was quite content with herself when she left the dorm, and in the Common Room she felt the eyes of certain fourth and fifth years on her. Little did they know where she was heading to. Hermione stepped through the portrait, and made her way down the cold dungeons which were the habitat of the Slytherins. When she had arrived there, she put on the cloak that she had fortunately brought, and she found herself grateful to be a Gryffindor living in the cosy Gryffindor Tower. When she reached her destination, she took a deep breath and straightened her back. She didn't need to be nervous. It was the man who loved her with all his heart she was meeting here, not an enemy.

"Sir?" Hermione slowly opened the door that led to the potions classroom. He had told her to come into his study through the classroom, but how was she supposed to find his study if she didn't know where to search? "Severus, are you there?"

The girl walked further and closed the door behind her back. She had expected him to be in the classroom, waiting for her, but apparently, she was ought to look after herself. She glanced around the room, hoping for something to show, any kind of entrance that would lead to the study of her professor. She hesitated. Perhaps he forgot about their meeting? Or he didn't want to meet her anymore? Hermione decided it would be rude to just walk away and leave him here, if he was here, and she did not want to do such a thing anyway. She'd wait forever if necessary. And perhaps, perhaps this might've been one of those, ahum, witty Slytherin tests.

"Severus?" she called out again.

Hermione walked over to his desk in the front of the classroom, the only place she hadn't been yet, determinedly searching for a secret entrance of some kind. She thought it'd be ridiculous if it were all too obvious, so she walked over to the narrow place behind the desk and checked for the tiniest hints. Tracing the edges of the desk with her slender finger, she noticed tiny snakes were engraved in it.

"Severus Snape?" she tried, whispering.

Behind her, she saw a doorway had appeared, and without hesitation she walked through it and entered the room behind the classroom. At first she didn't see him, but when she heard him, all nervosity was gone.

"Hermione, you came", a deep voice welcomed her. He said it as if he hadn't expected she would. Ridiculous. She would do anything to be near him.

"Of course I did", she replied, blushing.

She stood there, awkwardly, not really knowing what to do. Why was she here? Did he want a continuation of their previous encounter? Did he want to talk about it? Whatever had happened before, it must've meant something to him, because else he wouldn't have asked her to meet again, right? Hermione saw that her lover was not wearing his usual robes he wore for teaching, but he was wearing a velvet jumper, and tight, black trousers. He was even better looking than he did on any other day. It was nice seeing him so relaxed for once.

"Come here", the warm voice interrupted her thoughts, and without even needing to think about it, she obeyed him.

Oh, how she wanted him. It was unbelievable to her why a man like him would choose to be with, according to some people, an immature know-it-all. She longed to be close to him again, to smell his intoxicating fragrance, to touch the harsh features of his face, to-

But before she could finish her thought, her mind went completely blank, and she felt his moist lips pressing on hers. Hermione happily co-operated, and when her lips parted, she could experience how happily Severus was in co-operating. She didn't know how long they had been standing there, kissing one another, Severus with his hands clenched in her wild mane. When finally they had released one another, the man was staring at the girl, _his _girl, and as she heard his next words, she flushed.

"My gorgeous lioness", he said.

Aforementioned lioness tried to hide her face with her bushy hair, and protested, but he grabbed her face with both hands and firmly pressed his mouth to hers one last time.

"No talking back", Severus laughed.

He gazed at her lovingly, and she could not do anything but admire this man, and question why he had chosen her. She wasn't remarkable. Nothing, except perhaps her grades, was different from other people. She looked like any other seventeen year old witch here at Hogwarts. And if he had wanted a young girl, he could've easily gotten another one, but he had chosen her. She felt her chest swell with pride by this notion.

Severus quietly went sitting into an emerald settee. From the moment she had walked in here, she only had had eye for her professor, but his study was extremely fine, too. On the opposite side of the wall with the door was no ordinary wall, but a wall completely made out of glass. This caused the shimmering green light in the room, because the Slytherin dungeons were at underwater-level, and because of the glass wall, the sunlight shined onto the lake. In front of the glass wall, was a desk. And if you'd sit at it, your back would be facing the lake. What a waste of wonderful sight! The left and the right wall were covered with bookshelves, and if she weren't in this certain man's presence, Hermione wouldn't have been able to resist the urge to read. Next to the door was a big fireplace, with an also emerald rug in front of it. The settee located itself on top of the soft-looking rug. In the far corner of the room, the girl saw, was another door, which she thought led to the Professor's quarters. She'd love to go there once. To see where he lived, slept, and, hopefully, thought about her.

"Come and sit with me", the elder man told her, invitingly patting the remaining spot on the seat.

Hermione walked up to him, but instead of going to sit on the seat, she placed himself on his lap, and threw her arms around his neck. She placed her cheek under his chin, which was now resting on her head, and heard his throath vibrating as she heard the sweet sound of his voice again.

"I'm glad you came. I thought you wouldn't",

"Of course I did. Why did you think I wouldn't?"

He sighed. "It's just... It's just that in my life, there hasn't been anyone I truly loved, and certainly no one who loved me. When I was younger, in my years at Hogwarts, there was a girl who was my best friend. I tried to make clear that I loved her, but no matter what, she wouldn't see it, and definitely wouldn't love me back",

"I don't see why she wouldn't. You're a wonderful, handsome man... What happened with you two eventually?"

"Well... We kind of lost touch. It was my own fault though. I did something very stupid",

"What did you do?"

"I'd prefer not to talk about it",

"No problem", Hermione said, still a bit hurt because he wouldn't tell her. "What happened to her?"

"She married someone else",

"Oh", she had no idea what to reply to that. That girl must've been really blind. How could she not love this man? "And nowadays? Have you contacted her again?"

"I-I can't..." Severus murmured.

"Why not? I think you should... Then she can see what she's missed out on", Hermione added jokingly.

"I really can't", he said, kissing her scalp.

"But why?"

"She died",

"Oh", Hermione replied, "I'm sorry",

'_Dammit, Granger! How could you be so stupid_?' she thought.

"It's nothing, my dear. You could not have possibly known",

"I'm still sorry", she said, as she failed to suppress a yawn.

"Are you tired?"

The roaring fire and Severus talking to her had made her a bit sleepy. "Yes, a bit... But I'd like to stay, if you don't mind",

"Of course I don't", he quickly told her, "If you want to, you can sleep here? You could sleep in my bed, I still need to correct some assignments anyway",

"Oh, that'd be great", she said, not able to resist the thought of sleeping in his bed.

Smoothly, he scooped her up, and walked over to the door in the corner of the room. She had been right, for as he spoke the password, that surprisingly was '_Amortentia_', the door opened and revealed her Professor's quarters. Everything was decorated in different shades of green and silver, and even though she was a Gryffindor, she thought it was gorgeous. She saw his bed, which was extremely big for only one person and looked extremely soft, and felt even sleepier. The man carried her to the bed, and softly placed her on it. Hermione went lying down more comfortable, content with the thought that her body was now lying were his liked to be.

"Could you stay? Just for a bit?"

"Of course", Severus said, and as he came sitting on the bed next to her, she nuzzled in his chest, and fell in a deep sleep.

* * *

Hermione felt a large hand moving through her curls, waking her up, but did all but mind when she remembered where she was. Severus was still sitting in the same place as he had been when she had fallen asleep, so she assumed that he had never left. She had woken up again, and they had talked and drank tea, and then she had fallen asleep again - and now she thought he might have done, too.

"It's time to go, love",

Ruining the image of these lovely memories, her stomach turned at these words, and she felt deserted already. She did all but want to go.

"But, it's-it's only... What time is it?"

He laughed softly. "It's half past eleven already. I shall escort you to the Gryffindor Tower, to prevent any detentions from Filch",

"But..." she protested.

Her professor sighed, and took her in his arms. "I know, time flies when you're around... I wish you could stay longer, I really do. Perhaps next time. But now, you really need to go to the Gryffindor Tower",

He kissed her and carried her into his study again, where he carefully placed her on her feet. He handed Hermione the warm coat she had worn down the cold dungeons, and as they entered the classroom, and then the corridors, he gently placed his arm around her narrow waist. Wasn't he afraid that anyone would see them? And what if they did? She would surely get expelled, and what about him? He would get fired!

"Sev-" she changed her mind, it wouldn't be safe to use his name right now, "Sir, aren't you afraid that anyone will see us?"

"Not with a Notice-Me-Not-spell", he smiled at her.

"Oh", she said.

It was pretty obvious that he would use a charm for them to get out unnoticed, of course. But she couldn't help it - she could barely breathe, let alone _think _when she was with him. Severus escorted Hermione to the Gryffindor Tower as he would've done with any other student - apart from the fact that he would never do that for any other student. Let alone a Gryffindor. And apart from his strong arm around her waist and his soft kisses every now and then. Oh, how she loved this man. It felt wonderful to be with him, but terrible to realize they would never be able to walk around like this without a charm for not being noticed.

After a walk that had at least lasted half an hour, a walk that normally takes about ten minutes, they arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady. They were still under a charm, fortunately, so they could properly say goodbye - which was surprisingly harder than the girl had thought it would be.

"So, uhm, I guess I should be going inside again..."

"Unfortunately, yes",

But before Hermione had even made an attempt to tell the password to the portrait without kissing him goodbye, he grabbed her and passionately kissed her. She, on her part, of course kissed him back, and pulled him closer to her.

"I don't want to go",

He sighed. "I know, I don't want you to go either, but you have to... You and I both have classes in the morning",

"I know," the girl sighed, "I just wish we could be together like anyone else can be",

"Me too", he said, and buried his oversized nose in her hair, "I love you, Hermione. More than words can say",

"I-I love you too",

"I shall let you know when we can meet again. I'll pass you a note in the Great Hall. But now we have to say goodbye, darling. I bid you goodnight",

And with one last, tender kiss on the corner of her mouth, he and the charm had left. They had been together about five hours, but it had just passed too quickly. She wished they would've been able to stay together the whole night, just talking, or even sleeping - it didn't really matter. Just to have him near her.

"_Victory_", she said to the Fat Lady, and the portrait swung open.

* * *

It was far past midnight by then, which explains why the girl was surprised to see her younger Gryffindor friend sitting on a chair near the fireplace in the Common Room as she walked in.

"'Mione!" she shrieked loudly, "Where the hell have you been?! I've been waiting here for you for the past three hours! What about curfew? How did you manage to stay out this late?!"

"Shht! Ginny!" she shushed her,"Other people are asleep already, you know. Why aren't you, by the way?"

"I was waiting for you, as I already said!"

"But why?"

"I need to tell you something,"

"Something that is so important that it can't wait a day?" I asked incredulous.

"Yes! And why did you need to be out for so long anyway? How did you manage doing that? Honestly, you need to tell me your trick... I always end up-"

"Ginny! Shht! I was with a teacher okay?!"

"Detention? Again? On a Tuesday?"

"No! But, whatever - tell me, what did you want to say that was so important?"

"Oh! Uh, well..." the redhead lingered, "Harry and I",

"Hmm?", Hermione had heard this plenty of times before. 'There must've been something today!' 'I'm sure he was looking at me!' 'He was definitely hinting me!' Well, of course he was! Why didn't they understand they were both hitting on each other?

"We kissed",

Hermione's eyes widened in shock, followed by a gasp and a muffled scream. Finally something had happened between these two, it was about time! "Really? That's amazing! I'm so happy for you guys!"

"Are you really?"

"Yes, of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

"Well... Harry didn't want me to tell you, because he was afraid you'd get depressed because you haven't got anyone - that's what he said",

"What? Oh Merlin, of course I don't care! How ridiculous! I mean, I-"

"'Mione", Ginny stopped her.

"Yes?" the other Gryffindor suspiciously asked.

"Be honest with me. You have been seeing someone, haven't you? I can see it - the way you act, talk, the gestures you make, it's all changed. You've changed", her friend told her. "Frankly, you remind me of Snape", she added jokingly.

"What? That's even more ridiculous",

"Hermione, I've known you for six years now, Harry has been your best friend for seven years. I know you inside out, okay? Now - tell me. Who is the lucky guy?"


End file.
